Faces of Death (1978)

Director:

John Alan Schwartz

Writer:

John Alan Schwartz (writer)

Release Date:

24 May 1980 (Japan)

Genre:

Documentary | Horror

Tagline:

Banned in 46 Countries!

Plot:

A collection of death scenes, ranging from TV-material to home-made super-8 movies The common factor is death by some means.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Mockumentary | Alligator | Execution | Monkey

Cast

Michael Carr	...	Dr. Francis B. Gröss
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Samuel Berkowitz	...	Himself; Cryogenics patient
Mary Ellen Brighton	...	Herself; suicide victim shown jumping out of a window
Thomas Noguchi	...	Himself

Also Known As:

The Original Faces of Death (USA) (video box title)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:(Banned) | West Germany:18 (cut) | Australia:(Banned) (original rating) | Australia:R (re-rating) (2007) | Australia:R (uncut) | Netherlands:16 | Finland:(Banned) | South Korea:18 (heavily cut) | UK:18 (cut) | USA:Not Rated | UK:(Banned) (1984-2003) | Norway:(Banned) (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Guanajuato, Mexico

Company:

F.O.D. Productions

Trivia:

Ranked #50 on Entertainment Weekly's "Top 50 Cult Films of All-Time"

Goofs:

Factual errors: The narrator refers to "the country of Africa". Africa is a continent.

Quotes:

Dr. Francis B. Gröss: Do the animals know they are going to die? The men who kill them claim they don't. But when the machinery begins to rumble and the conveyor belts start to roll, sounds that expedite death are heard by animal and man alike.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Tormented (#5.14)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

Faces of Death Theme Part 1

Awful, but undeniably intriguing

I first watched this film when I was twelve. I had nightmares for weeks. Nightmares about dying, of course. This film left such an indelible impression in my mind that eight years later, when presented with the option to purchase this movie, I jumped at the chance. After the second viewing I no longer was frightened by the film itself. The thing that scared me was the fact that I paid 15 bucks for it. I somehow felt guilty, disgusted with myself. But I watched the whole thing. No matter how bad I felt, I just kept on watching. Granted, just because you can't turn yourself away from what you're watching, doesn't always mean that what you're watching is quality entertainment. This, by no means, is quality entertainment. This is bottom of the barrel, no doubt about that. But it's still in my collection and it's hands-down, the most borrowed film out of my library.